Far-reaching influence

OTHELLO — Adams County Pet Rescue has a far-reaching influence, according to Seattle business owner Staci Molzahn. Molzahn co-owns two restaurants, a catering service and a pet care business, all of which will be participating in fundraising for ACPR through the end of December.

Molzahn said ACPR deserves everyone’s support, and she saw the fundraiser as a chance to have her businesses work together to help the organization. Molzahn adopted her dog, Kobe, from ACPR several years ago.

“We're going to be soliciting street donations at checkouts for our daycare,” Molzahn said. “We're pushing our charity drink every single day at the restaurants and have sold quite a few of them. The donation dinners we're holding at both our restaurant locations, and I'm hoping that will raise $6,000-$7,000 … I'm continuing to try to generate new ideas for it too.”

Molzahn’s businesses are all located in Seattle and include Greenlake Bar and Grill, Lake Forest Bar & Grill, Neighborhood Grills Catering and Pups-A-Daisy, a grooming and daycare operation. $2 from every charity drink at the restaurants will be donated to ACPR, as will 25% of the proceeds from two Dec. 6 benefit dinners.

“My personal goal is to get 150,000 sets of eyes on this fundraiser,” Molzahn said. “Financially I'm hoping to … raise up to $20,000 over the course of the next couple of months.”

The businesses have been putting on the fundraiser for a little over a week and will continue through the end of the year. Molzahn said she wasn’t sure if the financial goal was realistic, but it is what she is aiming for.

“It's been going really well. We're selling our charity drinks right now. We have collected a few donations,” Molzahn said. “I can tell that people have clicked the link to the GoFundMe.”

ACPR social media followers and Molzahn’s followers have started to spread information about the fundraiser, she said. 

ACPR Director Kyya Grant shared how she felt about Molzahn’s support. 

“She has seen our Facebook posts, that we're low on funds. She's adopted from us,” Grant said. “It's actually phenomenal, what they're doing.”

Molzahn said she is very passionate about animals, particularly dogs. 

“At the beginning of 2020. I had recently lost a dog, and my existing remaining dog was really struggling and I decided to adopt a puppy … so I started researching some local area rescues,” Molzahn said. “Very quickly into my research of who and where to go to I found Adams County right away, and I read up on them. I looked into their website and their social media, and I could just tell that they had a really unique approach to helping animals because they're overrun with dogs in that area, and they're underfunded, and they never turned anybody away, and they never turned any dogs away. That really spoke to me.”

    Staci Molzahn, a Seattle business owner putting on fundraisers for Adams County Pet Rescue, said she has made friends with multiple people in the Seattle area who have adopted dogs from ACPR. Pictured is Molzahn’s dog, Kobe, and two of his brothers who came to the Seattle area from ACPR.  

Adopting a dog from a pet rescue was important to Molzahn, she said.

“I started to look up their dogs and I instantly saw a photo of one that I pretty much knew was my dog and drove out to Othello one weekend and I adopted my little baby,” she said.

ACPR’s impact extends beyond Adams County, or even the Columbia Basin. 

“My first day of puppy school with my dog, we were looking at this other couple and there was another dog in there and I thought ‘Boy, that dog looks kind of like my dog,’” Molzahn said. “It happened to be my dog's brother from Adams County. That was a real eye-opening experience for me. We became friends. They had been following Adams County for a while, and then another friend of mine said, ‘Oh, I adopted my dog from Adams County,’ and I just realized how far the reach was. So I've actually become very good friends with a handful of people simply by meeting them at dog parks because their dog came from Adams County.”

Molzahn elaborated on how she decided to support ACPR during its financial struggles.

“I've been seeing their hardship, and it's personally upsetting to me because I can't imagine my life without Adams County Pet Rescue, not only because I already have my dog, but because I plan to continue to support them. I tell everybody I can think of to adopt from them. So, I started to think about how I could give something back to them.”

The ACPR regularly takes dogs to the Seattle area for adoption events, and Molzahn praised the staff’s dedication.

“They may come over with a van full of dogs, and they may go home with a van full of dogs. There are no guarantees, and yet they continue to do it because it's the right thing to do. And they don't seek recognition.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

    Staci Molzahn co-owns two restaurants, a catering service and a pet care service, Pups-A-Daisy, pictured. All four operations will be fundraising in the Seattle area through the end of the year.  

“I've been seeing their hardship, and it's personally upsetting to me, because I can't imagine my life without Adams County Pet Rescue.” 

— Staci Molzahn, Seattle business owner